:37:11. > :37:17.Hello, you're watching the Sunday Politics for Yorkshire and
:37:17. > :37:23.Lincolnshire. Coming up today. We ask whether the latest benefits
:37:23. > :37:27.shake-up will make work pay or leave thousands worse off? We'll
:37:27. > :37:37.also find out why council tax is going UP in some places - despite
:37:37. > :37:37.
:37:37. > :37:42.there being government money available to freeze bills. Our
:37:42. > :37:47.guests. Mary Creagh is the shadow environment secretary and Labour MP
:37:47. > :37:53.for Wakefield, and Alec Shelbrooke is the Conservative MP for Elmet
:37:53. > :37:55.and Rothwell. When the government says it wants to reward workers not
:37:55. > :38:02.shirkers, posed hard working families would welcome that,
:38:02. > :38:08.wouldn't they? Absolutely, but the question is what the Government is
:38:08. > :38:12.doing, will reward people in work? 60 % of the people being hit by the
:38:12. > :38:16.changes in welfare of people in work trying to do the best for
:38:16. > :38:21.themselves. Thought we are seeing the bedroom tax hitting families in
:38:21. > :38:27.work. It will hit dad trying to share the care of their children.
:38:27. > :38:32.It will have some perverse outcomes. I have been looking at some WORK
:38:32. > :38:39.and I had an up letter from a man with a disability estimating his
:38:39. > :38:44.income this could go down by �6,000 next year. This week, a group of
:38:44. > :38:48.church leaders from Yorkshire wrote to the government St though thought
:38:48. > :38:54.the welfare reforms were unfair. Do you think the Government will
:38:54. > :39:03.listen? I think the word fairness is at the heart of the entire
:39:03. > :39:08.discussion. It is not right that with the index linked inflation to
:39:08. > :39:13.people's benefits, people on benefits had a far bigger increase
:39:13. > :39:20.than people in work. On Wednesday there was a lot of good schism
:39:20. > :39:25.about the one % rise in benefits, which was linked to that that for
:39:25. > :39:31.the public sector is going to get, but nobody complained in the House
:39:31. > :39:35.about the fact that the public sector and get a one % pay rise. We
:39:35. > :39:40.have had to tackle the something for nothing culture and it is
:39:40. > :39:43.painful but it has to be done. If Tomorrow, the Work and Pensions
:39:43. > :39:46.Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, will unveil full details of the new
:39:46. > :39:49.Universal Credit. For the first time, many working-age benefits
:39:49. > :39:52.will be simplified into one payment. The ultimate aim for the government
:39:53. > :39:55.is to try persuade people they'll be better off in work - but there
:39:55. > :40:05.are claims it could push more families across Yorkshire and
:40:05. > :40:07.
:40:07. > :40:13.Lincolnshire into poverty. Kate Sweeting reports.
:40:13. > :40:18.Single mum and there from Hull is one of those concerned about the
:40:18. > :40:25.way to the payment of her benefits. She says she wants to work but is
:40:25. > :40:30.struggling to find a job that fits in with child care. I need a job
:40:30. > :40:36.between 10 to 12, for jazzmen. For me to get longer hours is not
:40:36. > :40:43.possible. It has been described as the most radical redesign of the
:40:43. > :40:47.welfare system other country has ever seen. Universal credit aims to
:40:48. > :40:54.contents 5 work-based benefits into one. But there are concerns that
:40:54. > :40:58.the changes could make some of the poorest families even poorer.
:40:58. > :41:05.in five Mans already skip meals to feed tickets. These kind of changes
:41:05. > :41:12.will not help those people. It will lead to higher levels of poverty
:41:12. > :41:19.and debt. In the most extreme cases, this may lead to homelessness
:41:19. > :41:24.through evictions and potential abandonment of properties. For Emma,
:41:24. > :41:30.money is already extremely tight, but come the benefits changes next
:41:30. > :41:37.year she says she is expecting things to get even harder. She has
:41:37. > :41:43.been told she will have �13.50 a week deducted from her benefits.
:41:43. > :41:49.She also have to pay towards a council tax. From October, she will
:41:49. > :41:54.be paid monthly, which she says is one of her biggest concerned.
:41:54. > :41:59.get paid for Neilly, so my worry is that when I get paid monthly, my
:41:59. > :42:04.money has to stretch. I do not want be dreading that I have another two
:42:04. > :42:09.or three weeks before I get paid. If the bill comes through my door,
:42:10. > :42:14.I cannot pay that bill. government says the current welfare
:42:14. > :42:21.system must change. A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has
:42:21. > :42:25.found that 6.1 million working households are currently in poverty.
:42:25. > :42:30.But in households where no one works, 1 million fewer families
:42:30. > :42:34.live in poverty. The think tank which has helped develop the new
:42:34. > :42:38.Universal credit system says it will encourage people back into
:42:38. > :42:44.work by giving them greater incentives because they all hold on
:42:44. > :42:49.to more of their earnings. At the moment, the system means it is very
:42:49. > :42:55.unrewarding to take work. So people make a rational judgment, which is
:42:55. > :43:04.that I'm better off on benefit. Universal growth will help people
:43:04. > :43:09.keep more of their money. One of the difficulties that I find in the
:43:09. > :43:13.House of Lords is that when we are talking about poverty there is no
:43:13. > :43:19.one there who is actually experience seep the sort of poverty
:43:19. > :43:24.that you're talking about in Hull. Those of us who on meeting with
:43:24. > :43:31.those in poverty, those who are seriously deprived, have an
:43:31. > :43:35.obligation to present their needs to the body politic. The government
:43:35. > :43:40.says more than 2 million families will be better off after the
:43:40. > :43:45.welfare reform. But for some families the changes are already
:43:45. > :43:48.causing sleepless nights. Alec Shelbrooke, T looks a but a
:43:48. > :43:55.lot of people in Yorkshire will be worse off after the Universal
:43:55. > :44:01.Credit? Up until now, coming off benefit and going into work was a
:44:01. > :44:06.98 % tax. But the meant it is coming down to a 67 % tax. Also
:44:06. > :44:13.what we have to remember is that the idea of the Universal Credit is
:44:13. > :44:17.not just to try and crack down on the fraud within the system, but
:44:17. > :44:24.actually, I get people coming to my surgery he could have been entitled
:44:24. > :44:28.to other forms of benefit. Benefit is not a dirty word, people deserve
:44:28. > :44:34.to have benefits. If the system is so complicated that they come a
:44:34. > :44:42.worker what they are supposed to have, but any to those in need not
:44:42. > :44:45.get it, but those who work against the system find it easy. Mary
:44:45. > :44:50.Creagh, do you think the government should be given some credit for
:44:50. > :44:56.finally tackling Dott welfare system that spiralled out of
:44:56. > :44:59.control trying the Labour years? All the moves aren't universal
:44:59. > :45:06.credit his predicated on the government spending less on the
:45:06. > :45:12.welfare bill. It is also predicated on people having a bank account and
:45:12. > :45:16.having access to the internet. Over 51 % of families, even in the pilot
:45:17. > :45:21.areas, did not have that. They are trying to deal with a very complex
:45:21. > :45:25.system. We're already seeing the people are better off or on
:45:25. > :45:33.benefits and there are I'm work because people living -- working
:45:33. > :45:42.for less than 16 hours a week lost �3,000 a year in a tax benefits. We
:45:42. > :45:46.know with the bedroom tax coming in. When Ed Balls refuses to commit to
:45:46. > :45:51.supporting welfare reform is then not a danger that a party are on
:45:51. > :45:55.the wrong side of this argument? want to see a guarantee that
:45:55. > :45:59.anybody his out of work for more than a year will get a job, and
:45:59. > :46:02.that is a guarantee that the government is unwilling to give. If
:46:03. > :46:08.we can guarantee that people will be in work and have a job, then we
:46:08. > :46:16.will be behind it, because we want to see the system reformed. There
:46:16. > :46:20.has to be the work there for people to go to. When you have claims that
:46:20. > :46:25.one in four mothers are regularly skipping meals to feed their
:46:25. > :46:30.children, clearly there are worrying times ahead? Which is why
:46:30. > :46:34.we moved into the bigger picture of why we have to stimulate the
:46:34. > :46:40.economy, we balance it, make sure that the public sector spend is
:46:40. > :46:47.reducing and get the private sector economy going. That is why was so
:46:47. > :46:52.important to scrap the 3p rise on petrol again. It is now 13p we have
:46:52. > :46:57.taken out of the system on petrol. All the food in the supermarket,
:46:58. > :47:02.everything that you go on by in the shops, is delivered by road.
:47:02. > :47:07.the time we hear that people say it is not worth my while getting a job,
:47:07. > :47:11.because the benefits of at least making not worth it. When we were
:47:11. > :47:15.in government we make the changes. We guarantee that people were
:47:15. > :47:20.better off in work. In the Autumn Statement we have seen a growth has
:47:20. > :47:25.been revised down and the economy is forecast to shrink this year.
:47:25. > :47:31.Debt is rising for every year of this Parliament. As the same time
:47:31. > :47:37.as they are paying down the benefits, they are giving a �3
:47:37. > :47:42.billion tax-cut to people earning over a million pounds. With respect,
:47:42. > :47:47.you know that is just political spin. The richest in our country
:47:47. > :47:51.will be pay more tax and the lifetime of this Parliament than
:47:51. > :47:57.they are the paid under Labour. why including in that the money
:47:57. > :48:00.salted away in Swiss bank accounts which is result of tax avoidance.
:48:00. > :48:07.No, I'm including the tax rate which will bring in more money than
:48:07. > :48:13.13 years of the Labour government. �7 billion was lost out of the
:48:13. > :48:18.British economy on the 50p tax rate. The richest in our society are pay
:48:18. > :48:28.more than they have been decades. In terms of pain down the deficit,
:48:28. > :48:33.
:48:33. > :48:35.women and children are paid twice In the next few days, local
:48:35. > :48:38.councils will find out how much money they'll receive from
:48:38. > :48:41.Whitehall in order to set their budgets for next year. The
:48:41. > :48:44.Government says grants will be available for Town Halls which are
:48:44. > :48:46.willing to freeze, or even reduce council tax bills. But one
:48:46. > :48:53.Yorkshire authority is standing firm and refusing to freeze its
:48:53. > :48:59.bills. Nick Morris has been finding out why.
:48:59. > :49:03.In 2009, this family received a special guest and the cameras were
:49:03. > :49:08.there to capture the moment. think one of the things we will do
:49:08. > :49:15.is freeze the council tax. Three years on, and the government is
:49:15. > :49:20.offering to freeze council tax for the third time in a year. After
:49:20. > :49:26.inflation, or families in band D will see them Cup by nine %. But
:49:26. > :49:30.because this family giving your, they will see an increase. We are
:49:30. > :49:34.struggling as it is, why cannot York council look out for families
:49:34. > :49:39.and the people a matter to the city? The fact that so many
:49:39. > :49:47.councils have taken them up on the offer and your council had decided
:49:47. > :49:51.not is a bit of or slap in the face for working families. City of York
:49:51. > :49:56.Council turned down this year's Rees and raise the council tax. It
:49:56. > :49:59.is one of the first in England to save it will do the same next year.
:49:59. > :50:03.Hibbert going to protect the most formidable people that we do have
:50:03. > :50:11.to have a small increase in council tax in order to put that fund into
:50:11. > :50:18.the right people. Last year, away increase went -- brought in �2
:50:18. > :50:25.million, and �1.5 million when told people's care and one. -- nor by
:50:25. > :50:30.5,000,002 children in care. Can my Honourable Friend agree with me is
:50:30. > :50:37.out of order. 2.5 % was under the threshold that the government
:50:37. > :50:45.allowed, which indicated they would have held to hold a referendum. And
:50:45. > :50:49.two % is again just under the threshold. City of York Council are
:50:49. > :50:54.just holding the rise is just below the levels that would indicate they
:50:54. > :51:00.would have to hold a local referendum. For the Charlton family,
:51:00. > :51:05.council tax is going up again. Surely in the current climate,
:51:05. > :51:09.councils should be doing all that they can to freeze bills. But is
:51:09. > :51:15.very difficult. David Cameron made his promise that bills would not
:51:15. > :51:22.rise but in the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review they cut councils
:51:22. > :51:28.by 28 %. He has announced another cut in 2014. 60 % of the council
:51:28. > :51:32.budget is on adult social services and children social services. At
:51:32. > :51:38.his services to keep people in their own homes, helping them
:51:38. > :51:42.vulnerable, care packages, meals- on-wheels. Councils are in an
:51:42. > :51:48.impossible position. And councils that have it spits flooding the
:51:48. > :51:52.share have still not received a penny from the government. What we
:51:52. > :52:00.do so to cancel it has done so we have not got the budget to care for
:52:00. > :52:05.elderly and vulnerable people. does a city like leads me to have
:52:05. > :52:11.an international department, where it is a local council? Hundreds of
:52:11. > :52:16.thousands of pounds are spent every year on full-time union officials.
:52:16. > :52:21.There could be far more collaborative spending of things
:52:21. > :52:27.like stationery. There is money to be cut everywhere. The words I
:52:28. > :52:32.picked up there were a small rise of 2.9 %. It were these small rises
:52:32. > :52:37.year on year which meant that council tax doubled. Councils need
:52:37. > :52:42.to look at themselves and think, do we need to put an increase in? The
:52:42. > :52:48.actual proportion of council tax towards a council's budget is small
:52:48. > :52:53.compared to the Budget that he gets overall. Do you think councils
:52:53. > :52:58.could cost even more? We had the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
:52:58. > :53:02.to stay side Wakefield, which is working to do collective purchasing
:53:02. > :53:09.across all councils. Councils have made incredible efficiencies but
:53:09. > :53:15.what we cannot have is the situation where there will be a
:53:15. > :53:20.fatal error to have another two % cut in 2014. I'm sure you're will
:53:20. > :53:30.not be the last council that is forced to put his council tax up --
:53:30. > :53:39.
:53:39. > :53:43.in York. Locals refuse are still getting a bad deal from Whitehall,
:53:43. > :53:48.Hann they? If the council are so convinced that the government has
:53:48. > :53:53.cut its so far that they're on the side of the public, why have they
:53:53. > :53:58.learned just below the referendum level? Why not say to the public in
:53:58. > :54:05.York, this is why we are doing it, because we need to fund the
:54:05. > :54:10.services, do you agree? Trust they public. The letters get some more
:54:10. > :54:20.of the week's political news in our part of the world. Here is the
:54:20. > :54:23.
:54:23. > :54:28.Hillsborough, 2400 serving and former police officers will be
:54:28. > :54:33.called to give statements to renew their official inquiry. Until this
:54:33. > :54:38.week they had the power to refuse it but now there is emergency
:54:38. > :54:42.legislation to make them. This is an important step on it achieving
:54:42. > :54:47.justice for the victims of the disaster. Good news for supporters
:54:47. > :54:52.of the high-speed train line between Sheffield and Leeds.
:54:53. > :54:57.Transport Secretary will set out plans to take high-speed to today
:54:57. > :55:03.North West and Yorkshire. There's also an upgrading of the A1 and
:55:03. > :55:07.more super fast internet for the city of York. Labour claims most of
:55:07. > :55:14.those plans were already in there pipeline and unnecessarily delayed
:55:14. > :55:21.by previous spending cuts. For Hull, with the road through the city to
:55:21. > :55:26.the docks be improved? No mention of it in the Chancellor's statement.
:55:26. > :55:30.Mary Creagh, D you give some credit to the Chancellor? All the big
:55:30. > :55:35.infrastructure announcements and scrapping the fuel duty rise.
:55:35. > :55:40.A1 has been a botch from start to finish. It was ready to go in 2010.
:55:40. > :55:47.The Chancellor Castle the widening and now he has found it again.
:55:47. > :55:49.Exactly the same thing went flood defences. They cut hundred and �90
:55:50. > :55:57.million a year from the club budget and then last year announced that
:55:57. > :56:02.they found �one and 20 million. This is stuff that is ready to go,
:56:02. > :56:07.no problem with planning permission, why have we been waiting? The
:56:07. > :56:11.construction industry is in a very deep recession. These are jobs I
:56:12. > :56:20.can get people into work. He some of these things that were announced
:56:20. > :56:26.were rehashed. I do not think there is any harm in the open up the
:56:26. > :56:31.public finances over role. The capital infrastructure money is a
:56:31. > :56:37.changeover of revenue receipts. Rather than borrow it, it is there.
:56:37. > :56:44.It is interesting that Mary it mentions the �95 million cut
:56:44. > :56:48.environment budget. Gordon Brown cut it by �one and 50 million. The
:56:49. > :56:53.Labour party quite often feel they were not in power for the last 19
:56:53. > :56:57.years! They have had to be changes made but at least the money now
:56:57. > :57:03.being spent his money than the country can afford to spend, rather
:57:03. > :57:07.than carrying on borrowing it. what you think about the Super past
:57:07. > :57:13.rail link that is good to come to Yorkshire, eventually. It is good
:57:13. > :57:16.cost �34 billion. Is that money well spent? It is, but in the
:57:16. > :57:23.legislation we want to see it coming up to Yorkshire and on to
:57:23. > :57:27.the North West. Absolutely. I'm on the record from this time and again
:57:27. > :57:33.that it is one of the most vital projects that can happen to the
:57:33. > :57:39.North of England. If you have major companies in London who expand and
:57:39. > :57:43.need to be looking for new office space, if you are only one and a
:57:43. > :57:46.quarter hours away from Leeds, then with the ground rent and the
:57:47. > :57:52.quality of life that we have in Yorkshire, that makes that a very
:57:52. > :57:56.viable place to put that expansion. We have to make sure it does come
:57:56. > :58:01.to Leeds and carried on forwards. The government deliberately did it
:58:01. > :58:04.in two stages to get it moving from London to Birmingham. It is not
:58:04. > :58:08.nailed down in in for the burn into Leeds bit but there is every
:58:08. > :58:14.intention to get it there. Almost every Yorkshire MP is in favour of
:58:14. > :58:19.this and we have to make sure that it happens. Looking ahead to the
:58:19. > :58:24.next few days. Gay marriage has made the headlines so far this
:58:24. > :58:29.weekend. What you think about David Cameron so idea to allow gay
:58:30. > :58:33.couples to marry in church? I have not heard him say that, but I think
:58:33. > :58:37.marriage should be open to everybody, regardless of their
:58:37. > :58:44.sexuality. We have to see the detail of what the government is
:58:44. > :58:48.putting forward. This will cause begrudge and in your party?
:58:49. > :58:54.voting against the bill. It strikes of our hearts of my Christian
:58:54. > :58:57.beliefs in terms of asking the Church to do something. I have no
:58:57. > :59:02.problem with the civil partnerships. It we won true equality that we
:59:02. > :59:07.should take it the other way and say that if you get married outside
:59:07. > :59:17.the church, you have a civil partnership. If the churches want
:59:17. > :59:18.
:59:18. > :59:21.to marry people they can go into and that now. But we start to
:59:21. > :59:30.undermine the Church, we cannot stop the Hare once we have certain
:59:30. > :59:34.running. I fully expect this vote to go through Parliament. With the
:59:34. > :59:42.whips from Labour and from the Liberal Democrats... We have not
:59:42. > :59:45.decided what we are doing yet. pleased to hear that. What I found
:59:45. > :59:51.upsetting about this entire conversation is that if you vote
:59:51. > :59:55.against this, you're deemed homophobic. I'm not homophobic,